Filling Niche Space
In evolution, when one species disappears, others evolve to fill the vacant niche. That seems to be exactly what’s happening now in post production. A year ago, Apple abandoned the professional editing world by releasing FCP-X and putting a bullet in FCP 7. The product has improved since, and contains many innovative ideas, but the consensus today is that if you want to edit professionally, you’re better served elsewhere.
In the intervening year, we’ve seen fundamental redesigns of the two major competitors, Media Composer and Premiere (both now at version 6) and, as of yesterday, the redesign and repositioning of Autodesk’s Smoke, now called Smoke 2013 and selling for just $3500. Not to be outdone, Avid has offered a competitive upgrade from FCP 7 (or Media Composer) to Symphony for just $1000. The result is a reinvigorated group of tools for both creative and finishing tasks, and a changed competitive landscape.
For more about Smoke and Premiere, check out two recent episodes of Kanen Flowers’ “That Post Show” — “Smoke This Podcast” and “Adobe CS6.”
Explore posts in the same categories: Adobe Premiere, Avid, Avid vs. Final Cut, Smoke
Splice Now 
April 24, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Steve, what are you thoughts about the Symphony upgrade? I have MC 6 now and I’m very happy about my transition from FCP 7 ( been reading your book constantly, by the way ) and, although the price is very tempting, I cannot find a reason to justify the upgrade.
I’ve been reading about the differences between the two and the CC features and universal mastering seem really good but outdated compared to the various options around. I understand that’s all within the software so it’s an easier workflow, but Avid hardware ( considering Universal Mastering ) is incredibly overpriced for the functions it offers and we can get better CC tools with the Baselight plugin or even Resolve.
Thanks!